The Madiwala police have arrested a 36-year-old man who allegedly duped IT firms posing as the director of a company.
Joseph M. Alfonse, resident of Kammanahalli, was nabbed based on a complaint filed by the firm.
Alfonse had approached Jobi Kurian, owner of the firm in Bommanahalli, which provided computers and accessories to IT companies on rent. Posing as director of a company, Alfonse placed an order for 25 laptops, four servers, 39 desktops and 31 monitors worth Rs. 27 lakh on rent for a few months. He later sold them at throwaway prices and escaped.
The Madiwala police, who managed to nab him, found that he was involved in similar offences in Fraser Town and Basavanagudi police station limits.
The police said Alfonse used to rent out office space for a few months, hire staff and take on rent a high-end car for his personal use. He would even place advertisements about his company.
He would then place orders worth lakhs of rupees with IT firms giving computer accessories on rent. After paying rent for a few days, he would sell the accessories and escape without paying his staff or for the car. He would move to the next area to float another fly-by-night company, the police said.
Investigations revealed that he had cheated around 19 IT firms using similar modus operandi in and around Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Alfonse claimed that he is a BE graduate from Kerala, who came to Bangalore in search of a job.
